Music Links

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

You Are All Whores, Or, The Downward Spiral Of Pop

It's been a while, but there is a certain #1 song that has gotten me so infuriated that I had to come out of retirement. "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry is this year's best example of lowest common denominator music. It's the song I dread hearing while I'm having lunch with my daughter in Subway, which unfortunately has happened more than once. She likes Subway.

I'm sure you've heard the song, either by accident or (ugh) on purpose. You either love it or you hate it. It's just one of those songs. I hated it the first time I heard it, and I throw up a little bit every time I hear it. The worst experience I've had with this song was at the gym a couple weeks ago. Not only did I have to hear the entire song played really loudly, but the 40-something spinning class instructor even sang along to it. Yeah, I go to a spinning class. What?

This horrible trend of pop tarts out-trashing the other pop tarts really exploded when Britney and Christina put out their 2nd albums. They both went from innocent to super-whore after only one album. Sure, Madonna was kinda racy back in the 80's and 90's, but nothing compared to what's going on now. "Justify My Love" was at least a better written song than "I Kissed A Girl". When I first saw the title of the song on the iTunes home page, I assumed it was a remake of that 90's song of the same name. I think I could have handled that. But the reality is so much worse.

I'm not offended by the song. I don't care that she is singing about sexual curiosity. The simple fact is that pop music has hit an all time low. I don't care how "hot" you might find Fergie or thePussycat Dolls. That doesn't excuse the garbage they release disguised as music. There is no such thing as subtlety anymore. Early rock music was dangerous because of what people thought might have been implied in the lyrics. Now everything is as blatant as possible, or in the case of something like Fergie's "London Bridge" it makes so little sense that you can do nothing but assume it's something filthy. Because everything else she sings is pure smut. And these are the "artists" being played to death on Top 40 radio.

I personally listen to plenty of music that gets slapped with the good old Parental Advisory sticker. But I consider myself a good parent, and I don't play that music in front of my daughter. I'm really careful as to what is played in the car when we are driving. I have no problem with her listening to whatever the Disney machine churns out. I feel pretty safe about that stuff. But I know she'll grow out of it, and that worries me. If we're at the point where "I Kissed A Girl" is the #1 song in the country... Ugh, I just can't even think about this any longer.